Alcaraz gives away his first show in Paris

The Murcian saves match point against Ramos and advances to the third round after almost five hours of battle

Zapata also continues and Munar says goodbye despite going 2-0 against Schwartzman

MADRID, 25 May. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Spanish tennis player Carlos Alcaraz held on to Roland Garros this Wednesday with a hard-fought victory in five sets against his compatriot Albert Ramos in the second round, saving a match point in the fourth, while Bernabé Zapata also advanced and Jaume Munar said goodbye, despite to go 2-0 against Diego Schwartzman.

Alcaraz found himself on the edge of the abyss and, although he did not fall (6-1, 6-7(9), 5-7, 7-2(6), 6-4), he walked that edge until he sealed his victory against a superlative Ramos. The Murcian, one of the favorites if not the first to lift the Musketeers Cup for a spectacular career, started as a shot in the first set but the film changed completely with two sets for the Catalan.

Ramos, with two defeats in his career against Alcaraz but quite close, played perfect tennis, on the court, making the ball run and taking advantage of his break options. In that section, 8 of 31 took advantage of only the one in El Palmar, well below his usual efficiency or his aggressiveness towards the rest, forced to survive.

Alcaraz, four times champion in 2022, started very dominant on the Simonne-Mathieu court, outside of it Ramos, an image that was going to change and long after the 6-1 in 25 minutes. Ramos opted for longer exchanges and grew in confidence and solidity, the Murcian being much more uncomfortable, who gave up the second round in the tie-break.

The Catalan, with 12 appearances in Paris and four titles on clay, showed his good tennis, with the left-handed condition adding difficulty to his rival. He looked for Ramos the other way around and Alcaraz found himself without an answer, without a good serve either with which to avoid partial defeat also in the third. The one from Mataró believed it, very brave and comfortable thanks to his effective right.

Still very involved on the court, Ramos was also better in the fourth set, with the initiative, reading his opponent's dropshots well and not allowing the reaction of an Alcaraz disgruntled by not seeing an answer. The Murcian, recent champion in Madrid, gave up his serve in the eighth game and, then, Ramos had the match point that he will remember for a long time, which he sent into the net for a tenth of more than it took him to position himself to hit with his right .

The match changed without a doubt, not from top to bottom because Ramos did not give up and actually saved three set points, but for Alcaraz it was a clean slate. The number six in the world forced the fifth set with a lot of pick and shovel, the one he needed to take almost five hours of the match. Despite the stick, Ramos started breaking and would break a second time when Alcaraz put the direct.

It could not be any other way than suffering, the 19-year-old from Murcia raised that 0-3 and the Catalan ended up unhinged by his rival's saves. Alcaraz raised the stands and sank his compatriot, looking with relief at his coach Juan Carlos Alcaraz, knowing that any day his dream could be turned upside down, but already thinking of Sebastian Korda or Richard Gasquet, his next commitment, called to glory even if he plays only his second Roland Garros.

Meanwhile, Zapata managed to advance to the third round of a 'Grand Slam' for the first time, after beating (3-6, 6-2, 6-2, 6-3) the American Taylor Fritz, Indian ATP Masters 1000 champion. Wells. The Valencian will now face fellow American John Isner, executioner of Frenchman Gregoire Barrere.

The day could have been round, and that's how it looked with Munar dominating Schwartzman after two sets. However, like two years ago against Stefanos Tsitsipas, the Balearic Islands lost the juicy income, suffering the ghosts of that similar defeat, in the blink of an eye. The Argentine went with everything for the comeback and will now face the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov.